The Federation is composed of Nine States (killil): Tigray, Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Somali, Benishangul-Gumuz, Southern Nations Nationalities and People Region (SNNPR), Gambella and Harari Regional States; and two Chartered Cities - Addis Ababa and Dire Dawa. The national regional states and the two city administrative councils are further divided into eight hundred woredas (districts) and around 15,000 kebeles (neighborhoods, the lowest level of elected administration).

Government

Ethiopia is a multi-party federal democracy with legislative authority resting with the government headed by an executive prime minister and the elected House of Representatives (547 members) and the House of Federation (110 members). The Prime Minister is chosen by the party in power following multi-party democratic national and federal state elections which are held every five years. Parties can be registered at either the national or the federal state level. The President is elected by the members of the House of People's Representatives.

President:Dr. Mulatu Teshome

Prime Minister:Hailemariam Desalegn

Speaker of the House of People's Representatives:Abadula Gemeda

Cabinet (October 2016):

Demeke Mekonnen, as well as Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael, Minister of Information Communication Technology and Aster Mamo, Minister of Civil Service, as Deputy Prime Ministers; the latter two are in charge of separate clusters.

Addis Ababa, one of the two chartered cities in the Federation, is the seat of the Federal Government and is also the capital of the Oromia Regional State. It is the largest city in the country with a population of 2.7 million at the 2007 census (estimated at 3.2 million in 2011). It lies on the central plateau at an altitude of 2300-2400 meters, and with an average temperature of around 160C.